Messy Fo Cho
by BFangz
Summary: The team is at the wrong place at the wrong time and get sucked into a case that all would prefer to avoid.
1. Coffee Time

**A/N: Occurs after Red Badge S02E03  
**Reviews and comments appreciated......

Messy Fo Cho  
(_Coffee Time_)

A beautiful Sacramento morning was firmly in place as Grace, Wayne, Kimball and Patrick slid into the booth of the coffee shop across the street from CBI headquarters. They were "fixtures" and the waitress came bearing coffee and doughnuts, including one cup of tea, when she came to take their order, which as expected, was coffee and doughnuts, with one cup of tea. "Lisbon can take as long as she want's to get down here! I could spend the rest of the day here, if needed." Rigsby's statement seemed to echo the sentiments of all.

The booth they were in was next to the street, the wall about shoulder high with glass block to the ceiling, offering sunlight and privacy. Plants were scattered along the ledge top of the wall portion, providing a refreshing break from the sights and sounds of outdoor traffic.

"I think we can all understand if she's moving a little slow. Being framed for murder by your shrink can sort of mess you up," Van Pelt observed. "That has to be tough, especially if you fail the polygraph!"

There were general nods, including Jane. Jane stared, as unobtrusively as possible, at Cho. Cho had put his inscrutable face on, something he did when he didn't want to reveal what he was thinking. Jane wondered what he was concealing now, with such an innocent conversation going on.

"Where is that woman...." Rigsby started to say when the glass brick began to fracture and crumble inward. The sound of automatic fire split the air. Cho and Rigsby acted instinctively and instantly. Rigsby grabbed Grace, pulling her out of the booth and onto the floor. By the time he hit the floor, his gun was drawn and he was in a prone, ready position.

Cho had acted similarly with Jane, though Jane had initially resisted, not that his resistance mattered. Cho so easily overpowered him that the time differential between Grace hitting the floor and Jane hitting the floor could be measured in milliseconds. When two men burst through the entrance, they were met with withering fire from the CBI team. Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt, all had assumed the "position" and were ready. Training does pay off.

The two men were hit multiple times and dropped in their tracks. From outside there was a short burst of automatic fire, the sound of a nine millimeter glock being fired multiple times and then silence. "I'm coming in," they heard Lisbon shout as she opened the door and stepped over the bodies of the two mystery gunmen.

"I just can't leave you guys alone for twenty minutes," she spat." "What the hell happened?"

Jane was already examining the bodies and talking to himself. "Boss," Van Pelt asked, "are we victims or investigators?"

Cho was reloading his weapon, with one eye on the door. The "snick, snick" of him chambering a round caused heads to swivel, but Cho seemed to neither notice nor care. He put the weapon on half cock and slid it back into its holster.

"OK, everyone, check your magazines. I want to know how many rounds each of you fired." Lisbon bent to examine the bodies.

Rigsby announced that he had fired six rounds. Van Pelt said she fired eight while Cho had fired two. Cho, once again, was the center of attention. Lisbon examined the bodies, counting obvious wounds.

The first body she examined showed eight strikes. Four in the upper body, which was protected by body armor, one in the arm, three in the legs and one bullet strike just below the nose, at an upward angle that blew the back of the head off, spraying brains on the wall and out of the door. The second body had a similar pattern, except that lone bullet strike to the head entered the left eye, doing similar damage to the back of the skull and splattering an equal volume of brains across the area.

Jane looked over at Lisbon. "I have twenty that says the head shots are Cho's," he said.

Lisbon stood. "Good shooting, gang. Every bullet is accounted for in the perps, and that is no bet, Jane. I work too hard for my money to give it to you."

The sound of sirens announced the arrival of Sacramento's finest. Lisbon, being closest to the door, holstered her gun and held up her badge for the arriving police. The lead officer saw the badge and relaxed. Then he examined it. "CBI? How come you folks are involved and how did you get here so fast?"

Lisbon grimaced. "Just lucky, I guess. No, seriously, this is not our case. We are not on it. We just happened to be here when it went down."

All of the patrons, none or which had injuries more serious than that caused by flying glass, began to babble at once. Lisbon smiled for the first time. "We'll sit quietly in this booth while you get this mess sorted out, officer. We'll be good little witnesses."

Back in the bullpen, with several boxes of doughnuts from a grateful coffee shop owner, they discussed what had happened. Lisbon was not a happy boss. "I'm afraid my entire team will be on suspension or desk duty, pending being cleared for these justified shootings. Who knows how long that could take? Jane and I are the only ones who didn't shoot someone, and I can't see the two of us doing the work of the entire team."

Jane piped up, "Sure we could, Boss! Those two," indicating Grace and Wayne, "just moon over each other, and Cho is a ….."

The glares that met his Janesque humor kept him from proceeding. "Jane, shut up," four voices intoned.

"Do you think we were the targets," Van Pelt asked. "It's not too hard to figure where we get coffee."

"Nah," Jane replied. "If we had been the targets, or even if they'd suspected we were there, they'd have entered a lot more carefully. They thought the were going into a room full of unarmed people. We were not the targets."

They looked at each other, Lisbon being the first to speak. Then I wonder who was!"

oOOOo

**Yes.... There is more to come.... **


	2. The Beginning

**Messy Fo Cho**  
(_The Beginning_)

"Heads up, team. It's official, we've got the coffee shop incident. We'll be interfacing with Det. Ricks of the Sacramento Police force. He's one of the mayor's task force personnel that handles "special" cases. You've all got a forward of the email he sent to me containing an attachment of all his case notes. Take a lot at that and be ready for a meeting, here, in an hour." Lisbon turned and went back into her office.

"I wonder what 'special' cases are," Grace said.

"The cases involving people with political pull," Rigsby shot back. "That was an easy one."

Cho grunted assent and Patrick actually sat up and went to a computer. None of them knew anything about the case, except what they'd seen, experienced and what Jane had gleaned from his conversations at the scene, which, to date, they'd not really discussed.

The attachment they'd received was rich in detail, but didn't seem to offer any real leads. However, the list of patrons present at the time of the incident was impressive. Who's who in the political world of Sacramento wouldn't be a bad description if it.

"No wonder we caught this one," Rigsby muttered. "This could be a real black mark on us if we don't do well. I hate this kind of case."

At the time of the incident, the Mayor's 22 year old daughter was there, along with two prominent lawyers, a city Councilwoman, and a lobbyist, along with several other patrons that were not instantly recognizable to the team.

"Jane!" Cho barked. "You have ideas, let's hear them. You did interview some of these people."

Jane looked up and smiled. "I did _talk_ to a couple, that's true. I'm not sure I learned anything that'll help us solve this case, but I did learn that many of these people were not there randomly. I'm quite sure the mayor's daughter was there to meet someone and that meeting was of an, ah, discreet nature."

Cho was not the only agent that groaned at the thought.

Jane continued, "Both of the legal profession's finest were there simply to enjoy and flavor of the coffee and had so many twitches that I couldn't keep count. The councilwoman refused to talk to me and the lobbyist, babbled insanely about how lucky he was and how karma had favored him this day and that his stars must be aligned correctly. It was all crap. He was covering."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that everyone you talked to was covering," Cho observed.

"No! The counter man was completely stunned and open. He was simply glad to be alive. He has good doughnuts too!" Jane smiled and took big bite out of one of the free doughnuts.

Lisbon walked in and stared at Jane. "Is that all you got? I gave you plenty of time to poke around."

"You were eavesdropping," Jane said. "That's naughty."

"I was not eavesdropping, I was listening to my team discuss a case, and that's my job. I was doing my job. Try it some time," Lisbon shot back at him.

Jane lifted both eyebrows and grinned. "Yes, Boss," he said meekly, lowering his eyes, but still grinning. He pecked on the keyboard. "Doing my job now, Boss. Doing my job."

oOo

The interview process was almost as difficult as they expected it to be. Before they'd even started, Lisbon had received "personal" assurances that the Mayor's office would fully cooperate and make all necessary facilities available to them. Hizzoner the Mayor was justly upset that his daughter had nearly been killed and demanded quick justice to be delivered. However, he did arrange an interview time with his daughter, which he guaranteed she'd make.

She actually did make it. Lisbon and Jane interviewed her while Cho, Van Pelt and Rigsby were left to chance down the some of the other witnesses/victims. Cho managed to contact one of the lawyer, while Van Pelt and Rigsby connected with the other lawyer.

Surprisingly, those interviews went quickly and there was time to interview additional involved parties. Late that afternoon, they met back at the office to consolidate their knowledge and spend some time at the computers looking up items of public record.

Jane had supplied fresh doughnuts from across the street and made himself a steaming mug of Tea. A fresh pot of coffee was brewing, the heady aroma filling the space.

"What do we know, so far," Lisbon asked, taking a big doughnut bite followed by a sip of coffee. "Any ideas?"

Grace was the first to speak. "We have a mess, Boss. Everyone here is 'in bed' with everyone else in one way or another. We are going to have to step on some toes."

"Yes," Rigsby agreed. "If we can figure out who the target was, maybe we can focus better and not create too much of a stir."

"Now, you're thinking," Lisbon said. "I like not creating too much of a stir when the Mayor is involved. We might actually stay employed."

They chatted and compared notes. "I'll summarize," Lisbon said. Rising and pulling over the chalk board. She wrote, "Mayors Daughter:"

"Bedding anything horizontal and some that are vertical," Jane said. "She was there to meet her current lover."

Lisbon coughed and cleared her throat. "Where did you get all of that," she asked, her voice rising.

"Oh, it was as plain as the nose on her face," Jane replied. "You really can't hide that sort of thing. Most women will get a certain flush and become evasive is a very characteristic way. That's what you pay me for, right?"

"Yes," chimed in Cho. "And the lawyer, Rick Barth freely admitted to me that he was there to meet her."

"Freely," Lisbon and Jane asked at the same time.

"Well I may have mentioned twenty four hour surveillance, and questioning all of the clients that came to his office, but I never really said I would."

Jane laughed out loud and Lisbon groaned. "And I really did like this job, she muttered."

"Well, at least that's not a good excuse for murder," Grace said, "unless there's a jealous lover, and that is overkill." She glanced around. "No pun intended."

oOOOo

**More will be revealed in the next chapter. This one could go on much longer than I want a chapter to be....**

**TBC-----**


	3. Coming Together

**Messy Fo Cho**  
(_Coming Together_)

The next morning, Cho arrived early, wanting to check something using the CBI databases. He was greeted by the smell of coffee and an open box of doughnuts on the large work table. "Morning, Cho," Jane chirped in a gruesomely cheerful manner.

Cho grunted a half civil greeting, grabbed a doughnut and headed for the coffee pot. He fired up the main terminal, the one that had access to all of the CBI databases, logged in, and started his morning research.

Jane sipped his tea and watched Cho with curiosity. Cho was not a lover of the computer, offering the opinion, several times, that foot work and interviews were the basis of good investigation, so his intensity on the terminal was out of character. Cho slightly nodded and faintly smiled. He leaned back took a big bite of the still untouched doughnut and washed it down with a good gulp of coffee. Logging out of the CBI databases, he returned to his desk with a very satisfied look on his face.

"So?" Jane stared at Cho.

Cho looked up and sort of cocked his head to one side. "Is that a question?"

The arrival of the rest of the team interrupted any answer that Cho would have made. The quickly decimated the lone box of doughnuts and emptied the coffee pot. Rigsby started a new one mentioning that this pot would have some "_real_" character, eliciting groans from Van Pelt and Lisbon.

"It's coffee, Wayne. Coffee. Not mud," Grace said.

Wayne turned. "You can make it weaker, but I can't make it stronger. If it's a little too strong for you, a little water solves the problem, right?" He looked satisfied with his explanation.

"OK, people. Let's focus. We do have a case in progress and the Mayor is breathing down our necks on this one." Lisbon glanced around at everyone. "I guess we should continue discussing our interviews with the witnesses."

Jane grinned. "I don't think we need to. Cho has it all figured out."

"Yes, that's funny, Jane. Really funny." Lisbon was not amused. "I'm trying to be serious."

"I'm not kidding," Jane replied. "Ask him. Go ahead ask him."

All heads turned towards Cho. Who continued sipping his coffee expressionless. "Did you tell Jane you have it figured out." Lisbon asked.

Cho sipped is coffee. "No. Never said that."

Everyone waited, but Cho just sipped his coffee reached into the empty doughnut box for a little powdered sugar.

Finally Jane spoke. "You know something, Cho. We are all on the same team. What did you discover."

Cho smiled a genuine smile. "Why I'd be happy to tell you, Patrick, since you asked." Cho was clearly enjoying knowing something that Jane had not figured out.

"When I came in, this morning, I got on the databases and cross referenced all of the witnesses for some common element. I did find a lot of information that our mayor would rather not be made public and that the councilwoman and the lobbyist would not want to become general knowledge. None of which would trigger a hit on them in such a sloppy fashion.

"The interesting thing was the second lawyer, not the one banging the mayor's daughter. His name is Rolf Anders, and he is the lawyer representing a fairly heavy hitter drug dealer in an upcoming case. Another person at the coffee shop at the time of the shooting was a Willie Acuzio. He is states evidence in this drug case. Apparently his involvement is supposed to be secret, but I found it with no problem.

"What do you bet that I'm not the only one that found it?"

"I'm impressed, Cho. I'm very impressed." Jane hosted his tea cup to Cho. "Good job! You've saved us all a lot of time."

Cho's face went instantly inscrutable. Exactly what he thought of the comment was unclear, but he did offer a polite, "Thank you." to Jane, who was as unsure as everyone else how sincere it was.

oOo

Rolf Anders's office was not in the high rent district nor was it totally shabby. His name was on the frosted glass window of the door to his office: Rolf Anders Esq., Attorney at Law.

"Right place," Jane observed to Cho.

"Yea," he answered.

Jane knocked on the door and from withing came the word, "Come!"

They entered to see a small office, Willie seated behind a nice desk that was moderately cluttered, facing the door.

As they entered, Jane stopped in his tracks. "Mr. Anders, we are not a threat to you. We are CBI and we're interested in keeping you alive." Jane turned to Cho. "Show him your badge, Cho."

"Real slow, two fingers," Anders said.

Cho nodded, understanding instantly. He retrieved his badge with two fingers and showed it to Willie.

Rolf removed his hand from beneath his desk, revealing a colt .45 auto, which he placed within easy reach on the desk. "Yes, I have a license and it's current."

"You were used and could have been as dead as Willie Acuzio was supposed to be, you know," Jane said.

Rolf sneered. "No shit, Sherlock! I figured that out all by myself. Why do you think I'm packing?"

Cho leaned forward, supporting his weight on his hands, which he'd place on the desk, putting him eye to eye with the scared lawyer. "You want to get dead or get even?" he asked.

"You're going to give me a choice?"

"You willing to work with us?"

"Not if I have to break ethics."

"You're ethical?"

"Yes, are you?" Rolf spat back.

"Fair enough," Cho said. "I was out of line. I do that sometime."

Rolf seemed mollified at Cho's apology. "What do you want me to do?"

oOOOo

**More coming.....  
Let me know what you think and I'll try to write fast.  
Comments and suggestions are welcome.**


	4. The Light Dawns

**Messy Fo Cho**  
(_The Light Dawns_)

Once the CBI agents had convinced Rolf Anders that they were only interested in solving the nature of the attack and finding the assailant that Lisbon had driven off, he was much more willing to cooperate.

Patrick had told him that they knew he'd been there to meet with Willie Acuzio and that they were not really too concerned with his attempt at witness tampering.

Anders explained that he'd been hired to deliver a message, nothing more. He'd refused to disclose the nature of that message and neither Cho nor Patrick pushed further in that area.

Patrick pointed out, to Anders, that he'd been used as disposable bait. Had the attack succeeded, he'd have been as dead as everyone else in the restaurant. "I'm guessing a certain 'client' feels that you are really not needed anymore and there are easier ways to win a case," Patrick had said.

Anders tapped his fingers on his desk, nervously. "As you know, I can't divulge the content of any client conversation, but if you examine the case that Acuzio is testifying in, you should find every name you could get from me. Putting it all together, I'm telling you this is almost as simple as it appears."

Cho coughed. "I know the names. I don't know who the third shooter was. If you were going to hunt for the third shooter, who would you look for?"

The question was carefully worded and Anders realized that. His finger tapping accelerated. "If," he said, "if I knew what you knew with the records you have available, I'm guessing I _might_ ask around about Spider. He's got a bad shoulder and a cracked rib. He's been bad mouthing some bitch in black."

Cho nodded. "I'm guessing the word will get around that CBI can't get to you."

Anders nodded. "Can't hurt, but till this blows over, I'm being real careful."

Cho nodded. "REAL careful." He handed him his card. "I'd memorize that number and then shred the card. Just in case, you know. A plan 'b' never hurts."

* * * * *

"Looks like Lisbon winged him. I guess he was wearing a vest, too," Patrick said. "Too bad."

"Yea," Cho responded. "She can shoot."

Patrick stopped dead in his tracks. "Hold up, Cho. We'd better clue Lisbon in ASAP. We don't want her or the rest of the team asking questions they shouldn't to people they shouldn't, and you know Lisbon when she gets rolling. And she says I have no tact!" Patrick had his cell phone out and was calling Lisbon as he finished his sentence to Cho.

Cho smiled. Patrick wasn't nearly the loose cannon that Lisbon thought he was. In fact, in Cho's estimation, it was Lisbon that was the real loose cannon. She might dance around a little, but when she stepped on toes, she utterly crushed them, and the harder someone tried to push her away, the harder she pushed back. Minnelli had covered her ass more than once. They were a diverse and effective group. Even if they were not always politically correct.

They were having a round table meeting. The table wasn't really round, but they were really having a meeting. Lisbon was saying that it appeared that Cho and Jane were on the right track, and that the incident was a gang ordered hit on Willie Acuzio. The DA already had him in protective custody and CBI had been chartered to find the one remaining shooter and to track down who gave the order if possible.

Lisbon stood and pointed to the city map. Making a circle with her finger she said, "This is the territory of the Shrikes, the gang Spider belongs to."

"And Rolf Anders office is right in the middle of that area," Patrice interjected.

"Thank you, Jane. That was going to be my next sentence," Lisbon said, deadpan. Grace snickered but suppressed it quickly.

Wayne leaned over and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "You're so cute when you snicker," turning Van Pelt a bright red.

"Rigsby, Van Pelt! Cold shower time. We are in the middle of a case." Lisbon was almost as exasperated as she appeared. "We are in the middle of a case."

"Yes, Boss," they chimed.

Lisbon glared at Jane. "Not a word, Jane. Not one word!" She glared at him, but all he did was innocently take a sip of tea. She continued, "We could beat the street for this Spider dude, but I'm afraid cooperation will be minimal. I've asked the detectives in that area to shake their informants, but nothing yet. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

Van Pelt spoke up. "Why don't we just approach it as we would any other missing person? We check for credit card activity and try to track his cell phone. We stake out his last known address and such."

Lisbon nodded. "We may have to do that, but I'm rather find a more productive approach. That can take days or weeks – if we are lucky. Gang members are not big on legal credit cards or registered cell phones."

"Oh," Grace said, sort of shrinking back into her chair.

"Why don't I just go and ask the gang leader where Spider is?" Jane asked.

Before he could continue, Lisbon asked through gritted teeth, "Do YOU have a death wish, Jane?"

Jane sighed. "Some may say so, but not in this case. I'd want backup and I'd carefully explain what a liability Spider was to the gang and it's current business enterprise and how it would simply be a good business decision to tell us where he is."

"OK, Jane, maybe you don't have a death wish, and that's the best we have at the moment.

Rigsby spoke next. "I think Jane's approach would work if we soften them up a little." He hesitated and realized all eyes were on him. "I suggest that we get the police to roust every drug deal, every prostitute, and every sign of crime, even jay walking, and ask where Spider is. No arrests unless forced. The idea is to kill profits." A day or two of that and Jane's offer will sound mighty good to them."

Cho's phone chimed and he answered it. "Hold on, he said. Just hold on. We'll be there as soon as possible." The sounds of gun fire could be heard coming from his phone. "I have a better idea. Why don't we rush down to Anders' office and arrest Spider.... Once we disarm him and hopefully keep Anders alive."

They all stood up together and rushed out of the building and to the SUV.

oOOOo

**A/N: Another chapter. The next one should do it.  
Is it as simple as it seems?**


	5. Oops

**A/N: No, life is never simple.**

* * *

**Messy Fo Cho**  
(_Oops_)

The big SUV, siren screaming, made it to the scene in under five minutes. As they were running to the vehicle, Jane heard Lisbon say something he'd never expected to hear. She shouted, "You drive, Jane. We need to suit up." He never broke stride, but he did put on a bigger than usual grin.

Jane, much to his chagrin, was told to babysit the SUV and man the radio.

As the agents boiled out of their transport, Cho leading with the 12 gauge. He quickly skidded to a halt, rolled into the prone position, yelling, "Hit the dirt!" The sound of incoming automatic fire emphasized his command. The team, acting on reflex and thanks to body armor, avoided the first volley with no injury. Jane flinched as he heard the thunk, thunk, thunk, of bullets hitting the SUV. He lay prone on the front seat, grabbed the radio and put out a code 30.

Traffic had cleared like magic as a very hot fire fight erupted in residential Sacramento. There was a scramble, from the building across the street, of several gun firing men attempting to make their way to a van. The CBI team were hitting them with everything they had, but except for Cho, hand guns were not making a significant impact on their body armor, and their automatic weapons meant that the team had to avoid excessive exposure.

Cho's 12 gauge was making a mess of the retreat the perps were attempting. He'd cut the legs out from one. He as bleeding profusely and screaming for help. Two of his buddies were dragging him to their van. He hit one in the chest, blowing him backwards. He was protected by body armor, but he lost his weapon and was crawling towards the van. That was four out of commission. The team was no longer taking fire.

They made it to their van, which seemed mostly immune to shotgun or pistol fire. It screamed off, burning rubber a few seconds before the first squad cars came roaring on-scene, sirens wailing and lights flashing. Lisbon shakily stood, holding her badge aloft to identify the team as the "good guys." "What a freaking mess," she was heard to mutter. "A mess for sure!"

A body check and head count followed, showing, that other than skinned knees and elbows, there were no injuries. Jane, peeking out of the SUV window, smiled and waved when Lisbon looked his way. The chirping of Cho's phone, sounded so out of place in this scene of destruction. There was broken glass and blood all around the sidewalk.

"Cho," he answered. He nodded. "Yes, come on down" He flipped the phone shut and walked to the door of the building and met an obviously shaken Rolf Anders. Cho stared at him and said, "You have nine lives."

Rolf shakily smiled. "Actually, I have a safe room, but you saved my ass. It ain't all that safe!"

* * * * *

Lisbon sat down at the table with the rest of the team. "If we never have another one of those, it's too soon. Cho," she said, looking at him, "a heads up would have been nice."

Cho shook his head. "Yes, but you heard what I heard. Who knew? At least we did it by the book and suited up."

Rigsby spoke up. "Since when do the bad guys have automatic weapons and wear body armor? What is going on here?" He looked around. "Is Jane still with Anders? Maybe our resident psychic can get something from him. He sure seemed to be willing to talk now."

The team nodded in unison. "Do you blame him," Grace asked. That got general smiles from all.

Patrick returned from the interrogation room, bent over and whispered a question in Lisbon's ear. She nodded and went to her office, where she made a phone call and had a short conversation. "Need the use of the safe house," Jane explained. "I think we want to keep him alive a little longer. Actually, he's not a bad guy."

"Not a bad guy!" Rigsby and Van Pelt said together. Cho just sat quietly, looking like Cho.

"Really," Jane retorted. "He may skate close to the edge, but I'm not sure he's crossed that line. The fact that he's a target says something."

"Yes, it says that the gang has the same opinion of him as I do. The best lawyer is a dead one." Rigsby scowled at his pronouncement.

"There is some justification to what you say, but other than it's generic truth, this one hasn't done anything special to merit being singled out. In fact, he may be a little better than some that handle that type of client," Jane said.

"I hear you, but we're not going to agree," Rigsby stated. "I know what I think."

"And you won't let the facts get in the way, right?" Jane grinned.

"Right!" Rigsby said. An uncertain look crossed his face for a brief moment and then his jaw set.

Patrick smiled and went to make a cup of tea.

Lisbon returned. "Cho," she said, "Go get Anders and take him to safe house "B". Use the car. The SUV isn't looking too good, at the moment." She looked at the wall clock. "When you're done, just go home. You'll have a ride to work in the morning."

The ride to the safe house was made mostly in silence. Anders, after his brush with death, seemed preoccupied. Cho was normal Cho.

Inside, the safe house, Cho told Anders not to use his cell phone and showed him how to get a clean outside line on the house phone. He explained how things would work, how to get food and such. "Keep your head down, and you'll make it through the night. Poke it up, and someone will take it off," Cho offered.

Anders nodded grimly. "I sort of got that idea. Believe me, my head is NOT sticking up!" As Cho was preparing to leave, Anders said, "Thank you."

Cho turned and stared at him. It appeared as if he may have started to say something, but didn't. He smiled and left.

oOOOo

**A/N: Ok, so there's more.  
Life happens.**


	6. Pizza Time

**Messy Fo Cho  
**(Pizza Time)

Standing outside of the safe house in the dark was boring and chilly. Cho didn't want to sit in the car, which was far more obvious, and he did want freedom of movement. He was armed with a Striker 12 round rotating cylinder 12 gauge shotgun. It was not his favorite weapon. It was heavy and difficult to load, with some technical problems, but the firepower was awesome. Based on what he'd seen, so far, he may need the fire power if he was right.

Cho had discussed his suspicions with Lisbon and she agreed that his idea had merit. If nothing happened, tonight, at the safe house, that didn't disprove his idea, but if it did, that would almost certainly confirm it.

The dark van, that had slowly cruised by three times now, was a harbinger of what was to come. After the second sighting, Cho was hyper alert, waiting for almost anything. He calmly check the striker, temperamental beast, and made sure his 15 round Glock was secure. He figured if he needed more than 27 rounds, he was in deep trouble. Using his head set, he called Lisbon. "I think it's going down. Stand by."

She acknowledged. "I'll listen. You be careful."

He smiled. "Yes, Boss."

The big, dark blue van cruised to a halt in front of the safe house. Two men got out, carrying automatic weapons, and walked to the door. Cho carefully aimed and watched. As they approached the door, they loosed two short bursts at the door knob, took a quick step forward and hit the door together. The results could only be described as comedic. The door was totally undisturbed by the burst of automatic fire and they bounced off of the door as if it was solid steel set into a concrete frame – which it was.

As they rebounded from the door, Cho stood and shouted, "Police! Freeze!"

Needless to say, they turned in the direction of his voice, raised their weapons and were cut down by his relentless fire. Double ought buck shot contains 9 .32 caliber balls. He fired four rounds, sending 36 lead missiles towards them. One of the men, in panic, triggered his weapon before he had it raised towards Cho, unleashing a volley into the cement steps, doing no harm. The other, dropped in his track, his face mostly missing.

"Cho. Cho! You OK, Cho?" He heard in his head set.

"I'm OK, Boss, but I do need some clean up, here. You can send the EMTs, but I don't think they'll be needed. My guess is meat wagon."

Cho could hear the exasperation is Lisbon's voice. "You had the Striker, didn't you?"

Cho grinned. "Yes, Boss."

He heard a loud sigh in his head set. "Well, you're OK, and that's the first priority, but I really would have liked to be able to question them."

"Sorry, Boss," Cho said, not looking very sorry at all.

* * * * * *

Lisbon brought in two pizzas, the next morning. "Well, technically, I guess this case is closed, and I wanted pizza for breakfast, anyway." She put the boxes down. "Cho came to me yesterday and said that he thought there could be a leak about our progress on this case. I made a very discreet call to get the use of safe house "B" and it was compromised. Now, as you all know, safe house "B" is really safe." She grinned. "But if Cho had not been there, who knows what would have happened. And the fact that it was compromised, within a few hours, does point to a leak. Those who shot up the coffee shop, now, are all dead. " She smiled. "That'll teach them to mess with Cho."

The team turned and congratulated Cho for staying alive, excellent shooting, and removing 'dirt' from the street, thus saving the tax payers money. Cho was as stoic in praise as he was in problems, but the team understood and knew he was really lapping it up.

Lisbon held up her hand for attention. "I don't know if we'll catch the investigation of the leak. That's sort of out of our area, but Minnelli is aware of it and will be handling that. Right now, let's enjoy the pizza and Cho," she paused. "Try not to make such a big mess, next time!"

oOOOo


End file.
